Liberal Rep-elect Cori Bush, D-Mo., prompted outrage when she dismissed colleague Byron Donalds, R-Fla., as a "prop" who is intent on "on upholding and perpetuating white supremacy."
Donalds fired back at Bush, and her comments received criticism from figures like Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., on Thursday, who attacked her in a floor speech as Bush was seen smirking by C-SPAN cameras.
Republican official Harmeet Dhillon told Fox News Digital of Bush’s attack, "I think this is a common theme from Democrats to stigmatize any African American or really any minority person who dares to think for themselves, and our party is a party of respecting the individual."
But it’s not just Democratic politicians who have attacked conservative and Republican people of color. The remark was met with a tame response from the media.
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The website Politico referred to Bush's comment as simply a "sharp jab," and the online magazine The Root cheered Bush's remarks, writing, "There’s no doubt that Donalds knows he’s being used—he’s a Black Republican, after all. But at this point, it’s clear he has no problem with it." The left-wing site HuffPost gave Bush a platform to elaborate, where she said she had no issue with Donalds, but rather the Republicans she accused of using them. She added she was glad conservatives were offended, saying they had demonstrated their ignorance.
The racially charged slam on Donalds is hardly in a vacuum on the left, however, as prominent media personalities and outlets, including figures at "The View," MSNBC and Los Angeles Times, have in recent years also taken sharp aim at minority Republicans. Twitter also took hours to ban the hashtag "Uncle Tim" for Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., when he gave the response to President Biden's first address to Congress.
During election night coverage on November 4, 2020, MSNBC host Joy Reid used a racial slur, a variation on "Uncle Tom," to refer to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Regarding legal challenges to the election, she wondered, "Do any of you guys trust Uncle Clarence and Amy Coney Barrett and those guys to actually follow the letter of the law?"
More recently, on the July 30, 2022 edition of the now-canceled "Cross Connection," Elie Mystal dismissed former Georgia Republican senatorial candidate Herschel Walker as "clearly unintelligent" and asserted that he was a willing pawn of white Republicans: "Walker is going to do what he’s told, and that is what Republicans like. That’s what Republicans want from their Negroes: to do what they were told."
In September, "The View" co-host Sunny Hostin attacked former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley as a minority who was running from her ethnicity. "What’s her real name again," she asked on September 21. Talking about Haley, whose given first name is Nimrata, Hostin added, "I think that if she leaned into being someone of color, it's different." One of Hostin's co-hosts noted wryly that Hostin herself goes by the nickname "Sunny" instead of her given name Asunción; fellow co-host Whoopi Goldberg also uses a stage name.
Hostin also raised eyebrows last year when she declared that she didn't understand Black or Latino Republicans, suggesting no non-whites should be in the party.
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Another example includes a writer for the Los Angeles Times in 2021 calling Larry Elder, then a Republican candidate for governor in California, "the black face of white supremacy." An MSNBC contributor that year also said Elder was "Trumpism in blackface" and received no pushback from left-wing host Nicolle Wallace.
Regarding the attacks on Representative Donalds, Fox News contributor Joe Concha told Fox News Digital that the comments have "no place in public discourse, particularly by a sitting Congresswoman." Speaking of the media, he noted, "But I've seen very little condemnation from those who usually stand on outrage soapboxes for a living and call themselves journalists. If there was any kind of attack like this on, say, Hakeem Jeffries, you could be sure it would be to lead stories for a week with calls for resignation."
"Not only is there a double standard, the media itself does this. I know this as an Indian American." added Dhillon.
She described questions like, "'As an Indian American how can you possibly support the Republican Party,’ as though I’m a zoo animal or a curiosity."
